The National Museum of Korea is devoted to promoting cultural development by preserving, researching, and displaying invaluable cultural and historical artifacts and properties. To that purpose, and in accordance with our slogan—”The museum built with the people”—the NMK always welcomes works donated by domestic and international collectors.

The NMK makes every effort to permanently preserve any cultural assets which are donated to us, and we pledge to open our donated collections to the public via permanent and special exhibitions, both in and out of Korea.

Choosing to donate your prized cultural assets to the NMK is an act of great significance which protects the objects from damage, deterioration, theft, or loss. Donation also terrifically enhances the genuine value of your objects by allowing them to be presented to millions of people through open exhibition in one of the world’s most popular museums.

In addition, it opens the donated cultural assets to the public and uses them as a resource for relevant academic studies.

More people are becoming aware of the benefits and virtues of donating their cultural and historical items to the NMK, and the number of donated pieces that we receive has recently been rising. The NMK is continuously receiving donations of key cultural assets, including government-designated National Treasures.

In particular, donations from foreigners and Koreans living abroad have been steadily increasing. Such contributions are especially significant, since they represent the return of Korean artifacts which may once have been thought to be lost overseas.

The NMK has various methods for honoring our donors.

The NMK widely promotes the donation of cultural assets by operating donation galleries, holding special exhibitions of donated cultural assets, and publishing lists of donated cultural assets.